The French Connection

I'm a sucker for gansta films, though I suppose this doesn't quite fall into that genre in the way that The Godfather and Bonnie & Clyde are. I enoyed Gene Hackman's portrayal of Doyle, but wish that Roy Scheider had been given a bit more to do since his subtlety and inner struggle to play by the rules or stick by his partner added a nice depth that Hackman's 'a man apart' attitude didn't have. I liked the New Hollywood camera angles during subway chase and the two scenes where Doyle's car rolls by the bicycles with a mounted stationary camera. Overall a better role for Hackman than Bonnie & Clyde was.

Psycho

Not my favorite Hitchcock offering. Maybe because it lacked Jimmy Stewart. I do have to say, in the scene in which Anthony Perkins is climbing the stairs to visit 'mother', he is oddly graceful. I dislike this move in that in uses slasher-esque techniques instead of Hitchcock's usual methods of building suspense such as in Vertigo and Rear Window. The former two films also had a plethora of visual eye candy and interesting framing techniques of the shots which this one simply lacked.

High Noon

I'm officially in love with Katy Jurado, she's like a dusky Sara Ramirez. Gary Cooper is okay, but a bit too stolid, however Grace Kelly is a run little treat. I loved the music and the extended shots of the scenery which helped portray the sense of anxiousness and isolation that Will Kane feels after being abandoned by the villagers. I dislike how Helen Ramirez's character is seen as being 'weak' and leaving Will Kane to face Miller by himself, and how she is apparently the town whore. The film was made in 1952, but the anti-Mexican sentiments are a bit too obvious, especially when contrasted with the fair-Anglo, unwavering Quaker faith of Amy. My favorite quotation is Katy Jurado's declaration "I don't let any man touch me unless I want him to."

Some Like it Hot

Another Billy Wilder offering (he directed It Happened One Night) and is similar in that it has outrageous situations, disguises, mistaken identity, slapstick, and the like. Marylin Monroe is actually enjoyable in this (more so than in Seven Year Itch but I don't care for Jack Lemon, nor his curious mimicking of Cary Grant's accent. Tony Curtis is forgettable.

Rocky

Ever since I saw this, I can't get the theme music out of my head. I can't tell if Stalone is actually a good actor (to be fair, he did get an Oscar nom) or if he's really as stupid as he plays Rocky Balboa to be. He does have a lanky grace about him which is nice, and he was the screenwriter, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. A decent movie, but Rocky is too likable and his 'flaws' of being uneducated and physical are not fatal like De Niro's Jake La Motta in Raging Bull. In Raging Bull you really did detest his alcoholism, violence, and womanizing which gave the character a depth that Stallone's two dimension portrayal of Balboa lacks. This movie also reminds me a lot of On the Waterfront: down on his luck boxer, works for a mafia loan shark, likes the quiet bookish girl, takes a beating in the final scene without triumphing but manages to preserve his dignity.

Annie Hall

This movie is generally described as 'everybody's favorite Woody Allen film'. I don't know that I'd agree with that, I liked Match Point far more, mostly because due to The Tudors I have an obsession with Johnathon Rhys Myers. Also, I find Allen's self-pleased smugness with his own sense of humor and New York City to pervade the entirety of Annie Hall, and smugness in a director is something I detest, especially when in someone as deplorable as Allen. There is no way that sleeping with your step-adopted daughter is ever appropriate; likewise he is the most irritating type of Brooklyn-born Jew. I'll grant him directorial style points on the cutaways, long takes, and breaking of the fourth wall, but that is not enough for me to overlook his vanity. Diane Keaton is fresh, and I thoroughly enjoyed Carol Kane's (rather minor) character and Jeff Goldblum's cameo. Paul Simon was not well utilized.

Tootsie

I like Dustin Hoffman, but this movie just didn't impress me. It feels very dated. I know, I know, yes it's a movie from the 1980's about women in the workplace, so by nature it should feel dated, but I recently watched Nine to Five (also with Dabney Coleman in another role as a 'sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical, bigot' boss-type role), and that felt much more relevant, and at the very least was still humorous. Jessica Lange was good, but I don't know that she deserved the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, there wasn't much depth and growth to the character. On a side note, Lange was also nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for Frances that year as well, but did not win (Meryl did for the forgettable Sophie's Choice). Overall, I just felt it was bland.